The Confrontation
by fluffyfaith
Summary: What if Sakura took that chance to tell Syaoran to stay with her? Would he willingly forget the feathers just to come back to his one and only? Or rather, does he still feel for her like he did before? TOKYO & NIHON SPOILERS and one-shot fluff.


_The Confrontation_

No exams this morning, so I wrote this in my spare time.

**SPOILERS FOR NIHON! Don't read on if you have no idea about what happens to Syaoran in the Tokyo arc. M'kay?**

Syaoran lost his heart and his one and only priority was to collect Sakura's feathers. But is that true? Did his feelings for everyone he cared about, especially Sakura, disappear along with his heart? I never thought so.

And I've always wondered why Sakura didn't grab the chance to tell Syaoran that she wanted him back. Even if the original Syaoran was there, why didn't she seize the moment? Tell him what she wanted to say before it was too late? Screw the 'appropriate time', if she wanted him back, she shouldn't told him right away. Welp, as you can imagine, this is what this one-shot is all about. My work here is done.

**xXxXx**

His name was Syaoran. But to Sakura, she just couldn't conjure up enough strength to address him fully yet. Because the face that she had longed to see, the kind traveller with a warm smile, had disappeared.

The puppeteer had dragged him away from her and took the chance where his heart was not fully whole. But Sakura felt it. Syaoran, her Syaoran, has a heart that cannot be reached. She remembered distinctively in Tokyo when she opened her eyes to find there was two of him; she remembered the sword strike through the other Syaoran's leg. Shortly afterwards, she remembered her Syaoran walking almost mechanically to the prison she was trapped in. And she remembered when he grabbed her from the ground to place the feather into her body. No matter how hard she struggled, she knew she couldn't stop him. He was set on 'collecting the feathers, no matter what'. He had whispered that to her, his lips closing near to hers, and even though she had her eyes forced shut she could feel his warm breath near her face. And even though she was dropped carelessly to the floor, Sakura had used the last of her energy to grab his hand and whisper one last request from him.

'Don't go'.

Could she reach him? If only. Hesitantly, she took his hand away and left her.

If only Sakura had more strength, more time, she would have done more. If she had to grovel on her knees, she would've. If she had to stop him by enclosing her arms around his body, she'd be willing to do so.

Why did she want him to stay? She had only come to realise in the previous dream she had, which was unfortunately during the process of Syaoran's heart loss. She was too late.

But in Infinity, she had found a way to find her Syaoran and save the life of the other. She knew it wasn't fair to trap him in the same angst that she had been forced to sink into. He had to worry about his Sakura. It wasn't that she didn't care about him; it was just that they had been united cruelly in the midst of their loss of their love.

Yes, she had thought to herself with her heart set, she loved her Syaoran. There was no hiding it, and there was no denying it. Throughout the journey, the way he was, his dedication to her and her feathers, his desire to keep her happy had backfired with that same drive. His passion for her had reversed to her passion for him.

Had he still possessed that same passion at that very moment? Sakura thought... perhaps. And all she wanted was to let him know how she truly felt for him. However, her drive persisted her to ask for more. She wanted him to stay with her, continue travelling alongside her, and to... and to love her.

Because, at that very moment, she stood in a bleak world with only cherry blossom flying around her, dancing to the beat of the warm wind. The dream world. Her body somewhere in Celes and her soul right there. Waiting.

_And that moment of confrontation had arrived._

"Syaoran-kun." She had whispered as his body appeared through mid air, as if she was emerging from the ripples of water. She was also aware that he was dangerous. She could feel how strong he had become since she last saw him. So, Sakura was wise enough to keep her distance for now.

But his presence was so alluring. After all that time in Tokyo and Infinity, her desire to find him was strong. It was to be expected for her mind to draw a blank when meeting him again.

Syaoran stared at her expressionless. His intentions were to return the feathers but his true desires were forced to be locked away in his inactive heart that only Sakura could reach.

And she composed herself to make that moment real.

"Syaoran-kun, please, stop this-!"

"I have to get your feathers back, no matter what." He brought out the feathers that he had collected in previous worlds and made his way over to her.

"No, wait, listen to me." Sakura protested and took a step back whenever she took a step forward. Eventually, he stopped when he acknowledged that she wouldn't give in willingly. Impatiently, he sprang forward on his toes and grabbed her arms. She squealed as she was pushed against his body and his arm grabbing her shoulders. The position would have embarrassed her so, but she was assertive.

_Take it, Sakura! It's time he finally knew!_

"I don't want my feathers back, Syaoran-kun, if it means you'll leave me again!"

He'd stopped. His eyebrows still furrowed in determination, but his eyes had widened as they buried into her gaze.

"I-I want you to stay with me. Come back to me and we can search for my feathers together. The way it was before was so perfect and I realised it was because... because you were there."

She could feel tears threaten to escape but she couldn't help it. Finally being back into Syaoran's arms made her realise even more that she wanted him. She knew that if he took himself away again, she would be physically hurting and aching for him.

"Won't... won't you stay with me?" she said quietly as her hands uncurled from a tight clench into an affection hold on his shoulders, "Syaoran-kun?"

He was wincing. He was fighting the urge to come with her. Or maybe his heart was beginning to show!

"I... I must get the-!"

"We can get the feathers together, don't you know?" Sakura replied before his intentions overthrew him again. "We can look for them the way we were before. Please, Syaoran-kun... I-I need you to come back."

Pleading was to be expected if he didn't realise sooner, but Sakura didn't mind. She was finally able to tell him what she always wanted to tell him. And being as close as lying beneath his arm was all the more tempting to let him know how she truly felt.

"I...!" Syaoran started but voice trailed away when he felt Sakura's head gently rest beneath his chin. He could feel how fragile she was to him. Her hands over his shoulders felt so light as if they were tiny feathers.

Feathers.

That word began to fade.

"Syaoran-kun," she whispered his name. She enjoyed whispering his name since it felt so soft on her tongue. And she enjoyed feeling how close he was; the warmth of when he used to carry her whenever she felt weary or whenever she woke up to having him around her was so familiar that it was a delightful pleasure to have enclose her once again.

"We're both the same, you know. You and I." She stated gently when she heard no response from him. "We're both artificial beings. But does that really matter? We're to thank the original beings for living, because otherwise we'd never have been born, and I'm so glad to have. I'm so glad I was born, and to have met you."

The feathers that Syaoran was holding had been carelessly and thoughtlessly dropped to the floor. His full attention had been reversed to Sakura... his one and only.

"...I love you."

Suddenly, she was alarmed when she heard Syaoran's breathing stopped. But he truth be told, he was so surprised that he had caught his breath in his throat and could barely bring himself to move. Feathers were no longer a priority to him. Because those words that she had muttered so softly, and so full of emotion, had stunned him.

And his heart was whole.

"...Sakura." his voice was no longer distant. The way he had quietly sounded her name was almost natural to him. And upon hearing it, Sakura pulled her head up from his neck and gazed longingly back at his eyes. Those kind eyes which were so familiar to her.

She smiled. An emotion bursting within her as she did so. And Syaoran had felt so warm when finally seeing her smile again.

She reached him. And he was so glad she did.

"...I'm sorry." Syaoran burst out all of a sudden and pulled her back to his body as his free hand cradled the back of her head. When Sakura felt Syaoran bury his face in her hair, with the same kind of feeling of longing and love, her arms reached around him and pushed her closer than she already was.

"I love you, too." He said, his voice filled with emotion next to her ear, "But... all the destruction I've caused... I can't be let off so easily."

Sakura almost laughed out loud whole-heartedly. "Of course, Kurogane will get angry at both of us, but... right now I'm so happy."

Syaoran smiled into her short hair that he had always loved, "Me too."

They stood there, oblivious to the awaiting feathers scattered on the floor beside them and the twirling cherry blossom petals floating around them, for a long time. They didn't want to take that precious moment away; more or less they felt they wanted to stay like that forever. But they knew that the journey wasn't over yet. There were feathers to be collected. Not that it was a top priority. But rather they could do it together, never leaving the other's side, and always knowing and feeling how they truly felt for one another.

With the warm wind blowing their hair in their eyes, they waited hand in hand to escape the dream world and continue with their journey. Together.

**xXxXx**

This would have totally happened if the original Syaoran hadn't been there to fight him. Oh, I love the guy, I really do and I know that he was only looking out for Sakura, but I was just thinking maybe a little alone time with Sakura could've been what they really needed. But instead, they disappeared/died. Dang.

Hey, thanks for reading!


End file.
